Taking leisure batteries off solar question

[GAVLAD]

Hello all,

I was thinking about taking the leisure batteries off my motorhome in storage and bringing them home to trickle charge over the winter.
Normally, I switch off the solar regulator whenever I disconnect the batteries and will do so when taking the leisure batteries off.
However, I want to switch the solar back on so that the engine battery still gets a charge.
I have a Vanbitz battery master fitted which keeps the engine & leisure batteries topped up within a few amps of one another.
Will the engine battery still get a charge or does there have to be a connection of the pos/neg battery connections on a leisure battery for there to be a circuit for it to work to continue charging the engine battery?
eddievanbitz or anyone be able to advise?
I’ll probably aim to do this before the weeks out if so.
Thanks a lot from a cold frosty battery draining Yorkshire!

 

[Itsmcb]

If you have solar, that keeps your leisure batteries topped up so you wont need to take them home. Then the battery master will do its job too. Mine just stay in the van all year and the solar does its thing.

 

[eddie]

So long as the connections are still made the Battery Master will continue to "try" to work. Of course without the Ommph of the battery it would be hard to guess what would happen without being able to meter up the setup

 

[GAVLAD]

If you have solar, that keeps your leisure batteries topped up so you wont need to take them home. Then the battery master will do its job too. Mine just stay in the van all year and the solar does its t

If you have solar, that keeps your leisure batteries topped up so you wont need to take them home. Then the battery master will do its job too. Mine just stay in the van all year and the solar does its thing.

In theory yes, but in reality no.

 

[Lenny HB]

The solar regulator needs to be connected to the battery to work. To do what you want to do you would need to connect the starter battery to the regulator battery terminals the Batterymaster would be irrelevant.
When connecting/disconnecting solar regulators the battery must be connected first before the panels.

I can't see the point of what you are doing as you have solar just leave it to sort itself out.

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[GAVLAD]

So long as the connections are still made the Battery Master will continue to "try" to work. Of course without the Ommph of the battery it would be hard to guess what would happen without being able to meter up the setup

I'll give it a go then and will see how it goes.
I may just keep one leisure battery on and take the others off if not.
Cheers Eddie

 

[Lenny HB]

I'll give it a go then and will see how it goes.
I may just keep one leisure battery on and take the others off if not.
Cheers Eddie

It won't work unless you have a battery connected to the solar regulator.

 

[GAVLAD]

The solar regulator needs to be connected to the battery to work. To do what you want to do you would need to connect the starter battery to the regulator battery terminals the Batterymaster would be irrelevant.
When connecting/disconnecting solar regulators the battery must be connected first before the panels.

I can't see the point of what you are doing as you have solar just leave it to sort itself out.

The solar regulator needs to be connected to the battery to work. To do what you want to do you would need to connect the starter battery to the regulator battery terminals the Batterymaster would be irrelevant.
When connecting/disconnecting solar regulators the battery must be connected first before the panels.

I can't see the point of what you are doing as you have solar just leave it to sort itself out.

I see what you mean regarding the battery master set up now - makes sense when you think about it as it splits the charge. I just wondered whether it would still supply a charge to the engine battery with no leisure battery connected?

Whenever I do anything with the batteries, I switch off the solar regulator and take the fuse out supply side first and reverse this last.

Reason why I am considering this is because previous years, the batteries have not maintained a decent voltage.
I keep my van in storage and with a busy home and work life, I don't always get chance to visit the van to start the engine or take it around the block every month.
It's not on my drive, so I don't have the luxury of being able to go sit in it and tinker and escape domestic bliss like some can. Or plug it in to the electric.
On the occasion when I have been to check on it during past winters, I've been unable to start the engine.
This is with 3 x solar panels and the battery master and a number of leisure batteries.
The battery master does its job as it keeps the voltage similar between leisure and engine.
But the sun doesn't shine a lot up here between Nov-Mar and with a combination of freezing temperatures and the van left stood, I don't expect miracles from the kit.
This is why I'm considering taking off the batteries and bringing them home and trickle charging them over the winter.
I don't want to leave it again this year, as although by spring the solar will do its thing and it may sort itself out, I don't want my batteries to drop voltage beyond bringing them back.

 

[Itsmcb]

I see what you mean regarding the battery master set up now - makes sense when you think about it as it splits the charge. I just wondered whether it would still supply a charge to the engine battery with no leisure battery connected?

Whenever I do anything with the batteries, I switch off the solar regulator and take the fuse out supply side first and reverse this last.

Reason why I am considering this is because previous years, the batteries have not maintained a decent voltage.
I keep my van in storage and with a busy home and work life, I don't always get chance to visit the van to start the engine or take it around the block every month.
It's not on my drive, so I don't have the luxury of being able to go sit in it and tinker and escape domestic bliss like some can. Or plug it in to the electric.
On the occasion when I have been to check on it during past winters, I've been unable to start the engine.
This is with 3 x solar panels and the battery master and a number of leisure batteries.
The battery master does its job as it keeps the voltage similar between leisure and engine.
But the sun doesn't shine a lot up here between Nov-Mar and with a combination of freezing temperatures and the van left stood, I don't expect miracles from the kit.
This is why I'm considering taking off the batteries and bringing them home and trickle charging them over the winter.
I don't want to leave it again this year, as although by spring the solar will do its thing and it may sort itself out, I don't want my batteries to drop voltage beyond bringing them back.

I actually have a similar but different problem as you. I also have 3 panels adding up to 350watts of solar. These keep the leisure batteries topped up all winter as there is almost no draw from them. My problem was that the supply to the starter battery was insufficient to over come the parasitic drain from the alarm etc. This year I have just disconnected the starter battery by removing the earth lead. The battery will self discharge but only very slowly. Mine is an older van so I don't need to worry about an ECU fault.
I wonder if you have the same problem with your alarm draining the starter battery and therefore the leisure batteries via the battery master?. There is no reason the leisure batteries should run down unless you have a constant drain on them.

 

[GAVLAD]

I actually have a similar but different problem as you. I also have 3 panels adding up to 350watts of solar. These keep the leisure batteries topped up all winter as there is almost no draw from them. My problem was that the supply to the starter battery was insufficient to over come the parasitic drain from the alarm etc. This year I have just disconnected the starter battery by removing the earth lead. The battery will self discharge but only very slowly. Mine is an older van so I don't need to worry about an ECU fault.
I wonder if you have the same problem with your alarm draining the starter battery and therefore the leisure batteries via the battery master?. There is no reason the leisure batteries should run down unless you have a constant drain on them.

I'm not sure. with exception to the control panel which shows the battery state and the clock, I don't think there's anything else as far as I'm aware, that would draw a current from the leisure batteries.

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